This is a tricky subject I would like to discuss on my blog section sometime. But here's an interesting view.
"While visiting his family in Iran, 32-year-old Rev. Saeed Abedini, now an American resident, was imprisoned without notice of any formal charges. He is currently awaiting trial at Iran's notoriously brutal Evin Prison, where he has been incarcerated since late September of 2012. Family members residing in Iran (also Christian converts) are currently under house arrest. Fortunately, his wife Naghmeh, and their two young children, didn't accompany him during this most recent visit. Since moving to the United States in 2005, Saeed periodically travelled to the country of his origin to spend time with his family and oversee the development of an orphanage, a humanitarian effort he began years ago. Prior to this, Saeed was the founder of a house church movement in Iran. Over the course of his involvement, the movement had about 100 churches in 30 Iranian cities with more than 2,000 members. "It was just growing so fast," his wife Naghmeh explains. "[Governmental leaders] see the underground churches as a threat and Christianity as a tool from the West to undermine them." Saeed converted to Christianity at the age of 20, after undergoing suicide bomber training by a radical Muslim group. The more he sought to be a devout Muslim and the deeper he went into training, the more depressed he became. "Christianity saved his life," Naghmeh adds. Yet when Saeed became a Christian, he became a criminal in his own country." - Voice of the Martyrs
Live eternally! Our lives today are like the 40 years of desert for the children of Israel. We haven't reached the Promised Land yet and we shouldn't get too comfortable as we move from place to place, and season to season. God hasn't taken us to our Promised Land yet so we must wait and be vigilant! Amen!
To be saved, to be born again, you need to realize that you need saving, that you are a sinner. We are all sinners deserving of eternal judgement and torment in Hell. So we need a savior! We need Jesus who came and paid that price for us on the cross! To be saved, believe in Christ, confess him with your mouth to others, repent of all your sins, and be born again!
Please take this precaution: read your Bible to make sure your preacher is preaching the Bible and is not preaching another version of the Gospel (just to please the congregation). Jesus taught some tough messages, and he did that to make sure that those who truly believe would remain and follow Him despite all the obstacles. In the same way, don't fall for lukewarm messages! Seek the truth in the Bible itself! Seek to understand the entirety of what Jesus commanded, obey Him and become a true disciple of His!
A great point is made in this video, that point is that we have two great teachers (David Platt and Francis Chan). And their messages are soooo convicting. We become emotional, we confess Christ and we accept the message. However, do we do anything after that? Does that message change the workings, the physical nature of our lives and our attitudes?
We need to be careful to not be deceived into thinking that just because we cried as we watched a certain convicting message, it has somehow changed us and made us more holy to hear. Our holiness, and change comes from the action that takes place after the message because of the message. Most importantly that action comes about because of obedience to Christ and because we love and want to cling to him. |
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